Other GT Links

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

A good update from RamblinRed on the discussion board. Looks like a lot of good recruits and a lot interest in Georgia Tech. Glad to see. Also, here is a rundown of the key recruits Tech is going after.

A complete BS article on Duke basketball
I have not read such a BS article in a long time. This one concerns Duke basketball and Coach K's "new" recruiting techniques. The writer is acting like he has invented this brand new secret way to develop a college program - by not going after the top recruits all the time. I'm sorry Mr. Samuel, your premise is flawed and biased.

- Are you telling me Coach K did NOT go after the top recruits last year? There were 2 McDonald All-American's on this years team (Kris Humphries & Luol Deng). You even mention in your article that they were the "concencus No. 1 recruiting class". Are you telling me he didn't go after the best? Give me a break!! The year before, JJ Reddick scored the 5th highest point total in McDonald's game history (26), won the 3 pt contest and won the MVP. For the 2004 game (unofficial) you have DeMarcus Nelson the 17th rated player in the nation on the team. He is going after Shaun Livingston, the #1 guard in high school and top 5 player. He has Sebastian Telfair on his list, the Rivals #13 player in high school. Saying that Coach K is not going after the top recruits is total crap.

- The fact that your No. 1 freshman class performed at a sub-par level last year says more about coaching than talent. The fact that Jarett Jack at Tech had a better personal year than your freshman is just a testament to his talent, hard work and coaching. He was not as highly rated as many of the Duke recruits. Jack will be a great 4-year PG for the Tech team. Chris Bosh was a perfect example of the type of player you mention leaving early. However, you and I both know if he would have committed to Duke, Coach K would be sporting that wide crap-eating grin that we all know-and-hate.

- Do you seriously think that Coach K invented a recruiting style that says go after the 2nd level recruits? I'm sorry, this is the strategy that every average conference school has been using for years because the Duke's, UNC's, AZ's, etc have always picked off the best. Duke is having to re-think the recruiting strategy because the GAME has changed with players leaving early. It has started to impact Duke the most because they get the most blue chippers. You think Duke is the only school to realize this? What are you smoking? In fact, the top recruits could start to move away from Duke because there is no promise of 1-2 years of key playing time in order to get the top spots in the draft.

- If you really think that Coach K's strategy is not going after the top recruits, you are wrong. He logically has to rule out the top ones that will jump straight to the NBA, but he will still go after the top ones that are left. Look at what Syracuse did with a phenom freshman (Carmello A.) and a VERY young team. The won the whole ball of wax. Great coaching can only take you so far. You still need the horses.

In summary, you need to drop the moniker on your paper "The Independent Daily at Duke University". About as independent as a 2-month old baby.

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Well, the list is out and two recruits seriously considering Georgia Tech are on the list (Dwight Howard and Randolph Morris). I would consider Howard NBA bound at this point, but Morris will probably give college one year. He is down to UK and GaTech. There are a few others on the list showing GaTech as an option but most are leaning elsewhere.

Well, it looks like we are on the trail recruiting that 12th team for the ACC. We all knew it was coming and was reinforced when the NCAA recently turned down the ACC's request to allow a conference playoff with 10 teams.

The rags are saying that Boston College is still probably the most likely #1 to join, although if they could seal a deal with Notre Dame, I'm sure they would do that first. I am torn re: Notre Dame. While they would definitely add even more prestige, history and sports strength to our conference, if Notre Dame can only have it their way to join, I say adios - have a nice day. They want to have their cake and eat it too. When their TV contract runs out, if they are NOT competing for a national championship, I doubt they get any sweethart deal like they have now. Then I'm sure many of the Irish would wish they had made joined. In my mind it's either all-or-nothing. I could live with a phase-in period with football that accounts for the current TV contract, but let's not pretend ACC NEEDS Notre Dame. We can do just fine with a Boston College, or even a slightly lesser school. Notre Dame may not "need" a formal conference now, but that day is coming as conference re-alignment creates larger and larger groups. Heck, they are saying the Big East will probably have 16 hoops teams. Notre Dame better decide what horse they want to ride and not let the race pass them by.

Dion Glover has been re-signed by the Atlanta Hawks. "Glover set career highs last season by averaging 9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. In his 42 games as a starter, the 6-foot-5 Glover averaged 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists.". Here is the AJC's article on Glover.

Kelly Campbell caught one pass for 7 yards in the Vikings 35-7 trouncing of the 49ers (my 9er's - ouch). Only 7 points for the 49ers - with George O'Leary as the defensive cordinator. Nice going.

Joe Burns got his first start with the B.Bills today. Carried 8 times for 17 yards - not a strong performance but good to see him getting snaps. This was due to injuries by starter Travis Henry and 2nd string Sammy Morris. As a 3rd string back, he better take advantage whenever he gets carries.

Chris Bosh recently signed a shoe deal with Converse - see press release here. Notice the comment "Bosh arrives in Toronto after delivering an MVP career at Georgia Tech". Wow - a "career". Is that what you call ONE year? Well, if Bosh makes a name for himself, he might be the star of the Converse brand - "Converse's new players join highly regarded Ron Mercer, Andre Miller and Rodney Rogers as ambassadors of the Converse brand" I guess they probably weren't in the running for L.James. Hey, I'll bet Nike might trade Kobe for a good deal.

Nick Ferguson may get a start with the Denver Bronco's today. He's a former GaTech safety that has bounced around in the NFL and Canadian football league. Keep chasing the dream.

Dez White has shown steady improvement in each year with the Bears, although he has only caught 6 passes this year. Check out this blurb . The Bears play Monday night against Green Bay.

Here are a host of links about the Vandy game. First, Bilbo did make his first catch, a 49 yarder. Here is a Bilbo article from the Macon Telegraph. Glad to see that. Walt, I am also concerned about our defense, but less the running of Maclendon than the passing of Rivers. If they open up the passing game early and we do not defend, then Maclendon will run all over us in the 2nd half as we try to adjust to the pass. Obviously we are all concerned on offense. One area that bothers me is execution on 3rd down. At Vandy we were 3/14 in 3rd down conversions. It has been similar all year. The running game on 3rd was ok, but look at passing on 3rd --- 1 for 7, for -1 yards and an interception. I'm sure Ball will develop more confidence in this area as he gains more experience, but how much is play calling?

CBSSportsline has Tech ranked 78 in their "Sportsline 117" rankings. Let me see - if we win the rest of our games, each of the top 77 teams loses half of their remaining games...................I can smell national championship baby!!! Ok - here's a realistic goal - finish in the top 50.

On a sad note, records are made to be broken - Philip Rivers broke Joe Hamilton's all-time ACC total offensive yardage mark this week. As a reward we get to play him next week.

Saturday, September 27, 2003

I managed to pony up the $15 to actually watch this sad game tonight and it turned out to be a good investment. The Jacket offense did literally nothing for about 2.5 quarters with bad under and over-thrown passes. Lots of Daniels up the middle for short gains. I have to say that the most disappointing thing was the D giving up 17 points. Anyone want to make any predictions about what Rivers will do against our D next week? It could get ugly fast between him and Tounchdown Anytime Maclendon. I had to check myself at the end when we won the game on an interception in OT "Why am I cheering after a close win over Vandy?"

Still--we're 2-3, 0-2 which is right where I thought we would be heading into this season at this point. If we're going to surprise anyone with a run for the middle of the pack, we better start next week.

NCSU is beatable if we can resurrect the team that showed up for Auburn and the first half of FSU...

Well, Tech pulled through with a win, 24-17 in overtime against a mighty Vandy team. I did not hear the game so I have no commentary at this point. However, a W is a W and I will take it. As far as predictions go, here is the tally:

Tech Vandy
Actual 24 17
Scott 27 14
Bryan 20 13
Walt 41 13

Other predictions of note:
I (Scott) predicted PJ would rush for 110 yards (105 actual). Not bad. Never would have guessed Ball would rush for 103 yards.

Did anyone else notice tonight that ESPN.com temporarily listed Tech losing to Vandy 17-10? Fortunately, I checked a few other sites to get the real deal. And no thanks to the AJC.com either...they did not even report the score until it was well past over. It's getting frustrating to catch the game scores for those that are not televised on the bottom of ESPNNews...when your team is not ranked, you have to wait until the bottom of the barrel is reported...Kent State, Bowling Green, Georgia Tech...

While I think Tech will get a win, I don't see it as a blowout (although I would love to be wrong). My prediction Tech 27 - Vandy 14. I think R.Ball will get back to basics and there will be focus on the offensive side of the ball. I see Reggie having the best game of his young career. I think PJ Daniels will run for about 110 yards and Ball will not get sacked (as opposed to 11 times in the last 2 games).

Last week Walt was kind enough to point out that we could listen to the Clemson game by going directly to the 790thezone.com internet site. I tried it and it didn't work. There are two possible causes: A. the combination of my IT ineptitude (Helluvan Engineer, Hey!) and the fact that I'm using a Mac, or B. the people at the Tech AA figured out this loophole and closed it. Were any of you able to get that to work last week?
Although I appreciate Walt's optimism, I can't see a 41-13 win tomorrow night. This team just isn't able to score very many points. I'm thinking that Tech will win, but by a score something like 20-13.

Clemson coach T.Bowden is using Tech as an example of the perils of overconfidence. He's probably right. I was over-confident that Bowden would be fired at the end of this year. After this victory, I'm just pretty confident.

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Vikings 3-0. Not bad. George O'Leary - a role in this success??? Probably. Here is an article about Tice and his coaches, including O'Leary. George, make sure to put this on your resume (couldn't resist).

GT 41 - Vandy 13 in a blowout to pull us to 2-3, 0-2. Enjoy the positivity while you can. Hopefully, we can work in some reserves for late-game defensive stands.

By the way, contrary to what some others have posted, Vandy did NOT dismantle their sports program, but they eliminated the AD and his staff from the University payroll. They feel that they're taking a stand against the us vs. them mentality of some athletic directors, and they have their detractors. Interesting approach...

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

From the Carolina "low-country" calendar: The Knights of Columbus Thomas D. Reilley Sr. Council on Hilton Head will host Coach Bobby Cremins at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Francis by the Sea church hall, 45 Beach City Road.

Cremins was Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach leading the "Rambling Wreck" to 14 post-season berths in his 19 years as head coach.

Surely there is a place in college basketball for Bobby other than speaking at lodge meetings. Maybe he is making a mint on the speaking circuit - who knows. Of course a free trip to Hilton Head couldn't be all bad. I wonder if he is still doing commentary for hoops games this year.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

A Kentucky paper reports the following about Randolph Morris, the 6'10" center considered the number 3 center in the country:
Recruiting ... UK Coach Tubby Smith is scheduled to make in-home visits to at least two high-profile prospects this week. Here's an update on the two.
• Colleges who look to recruit high school big men have to worry about the player jumping directly to the NBA. But Kentucky shouldn't have that concern in its pursuit of Randolph Morris, a highly regarded 6-10 player from the Atlanta area.

The player's father, Ralph Morris, recoiled when asked about his son considering the high school-to-NBA leap.

"Oh no," the elder Morris said. "Definitely not. I can assure you of that. ... Randolph is not prepared for the NBA. He's still a kid. We want him to be able to experience college life as an adolescent so he can learn to be independent and responsible."

The younger Morris, a top 20 national prospect, is considering Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Louisville as well as UK.Georgia Tech is the leader. "But that's not set in stone," the player's father said.

Again, more reason why this seems it should be our top center recruit and not #1 Dwight Howard, who is probably gone anyhow.

Jeremis Smith has started on diary for the Star-Telegram paper. Here is his first entry. Here is his profile on rivals.com. He is listed at 6'6", 230lb and the 41st best player in the country and the 6th best small forward. Not bad. Another great potential talent that might come to Tech. Tech has 4 scholarships to give but maybe a 5th due to a walk-on situation last year. I'm not clear on that.

Now it appears Zam Frederick is not a lock and is waffling on his statements about Tech (and may even make a visit to Kentucky this weekend). I've decided to end spreading of speculation on hoops recruiting and stick to reporting facts. We'll let the message boards go crazy with that. Hey, let's let the kid make his decision and have his moment in the sun when he is ready to announce. If he choses Tech, we will be the better for it. We all would love to have him as a YellowJacket. Then we can report it officially. Zam, do what's best for you. This is your moment!

Here is a good article on potential Tech recuits Zam Frederick and Ra'Sean Dickie. "Like brothers" is how Dickie describes themselves. As posted already, word is that Zam has committed to Tech and may even have a press conference Wed to announce. It is possible that Ra'Sean will announce soon after, but nothing is certain until it is done. He has a couple of other campus visits still scheduled.

Well, we knew Chris Rix was special after his come-from-behind win against Tech, but we didn't know he was "special". Check this out. This guy has the nerve to use a handicapped parking sticker to get good spaces and he got ratted out by his own FSU students. More power to them.

Here are my top ten handicaps that Rix might have to legally get a sticker:

10. Attending FSU - handicap enough moving forward into the real world
9. White man's disease
8. Toxic Eye black brain absorption
7. Unmentionable infection from too many snaps from an unclean center
6. Sleep Apnea (slept thu a final exam last year and was declared ineligible for Sugar Bowl)
5. Seminole fluid infection? (get it? ok a little off color)
4. Uses Sebastion Janakowski (sp?) as a role model
3. Out of shape and wanted more exercise (run Forest run!!!)
2. No brain (we're off to see the wizard)
1. Ego too big for his puny head (he has #16 emblazoned across his SUV)

Rumors, rumors. Remember Clarence Moore? Played hoops in 2001/2002 for Tech. Averaged 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, shot about 46% from the floor, 36% from 3-pt? It appears he will be returning to Tech for his final year of eligability after a one-year leave of absence. He had missed most of 2000/2001 after he broke his foot. He certainly could provide a nice scoring boost to our line-up this year. With the addition of Will Bynum this could be a nice team this year. I'm fairly excited (even this early into football). In some ways Hewitt really couldn't run his brand of game with Bosh, even though he was a tremendous talent. Just seems very hard to work a good big man into the line-up AND run an up-tempo style. Now, with that being said, we need to expect good things from Tarver and Looooouukke S. this year. They are our stoppers in the middle.

On another note, evidently Bosh has made more than one trip back to campus in recent months. I'm sure he feels some level of obligation to help Tech with the recruiting process after leaving us dry after one year (although he did the right thing).

Rivals.com has listed Zam Fredrick as committed to GaTech (although not official yet)! See his profile here. He is listed as by Rivals.com as the 126th best player in the country, the 23 best point guard, and the 20th best player in the Southeast. The Hive has him as the 21st best player, so it just goes to show you the range of opinions. Zam has a big body for a point guard 6'1", 210lb. He seems to be a real scorer is high school and comments lead me to believe he has outside range and a good ability to drive to the hoop. Sounds like a good scoring guard as Jack continues his development at the point. Remember that BJ Elder is a junior this year and don't count out the possibility that he could go pro after his junior year.

The other important fact is that Zam's close friend and teammate is Ra'Sean Dickey (Hive profile, Rivals profile), who is listed by the Hive as the 12th best player in the country and listed by Rivals.com as the 53rd best player in the country, 14th best power forward, and 14th best overall in the Southeast. Ra'Sean is 6'9", 255lb, and has been compared to Elton Brand. Many recruiters believe that Dickey will follow Zam to the same college. Wouldn't that be fantastic. Not only two talents, but two guys that have been balling together already.

Now, GaTech did drop out of the running for Jason Rich, an althelic player in high regard. Word was that we dropped out because of the impending commitment from Zam. While Jason was higher rated, he was being sought out by a lot of other programs and of course bringing in Zam might help us get Dickey. Lastly, the other guy at Tech this past weekend was Russell Robinson, another highly regarded scoring guard. Don't know how Zam's commit impacts Robinson but we will see. I'm sure this whole process is like a series of dominos that fall a piece at a time. As the higher ranked players commit, it creates a domino affect for the other guys. I'm sure the lower rated guys want to claim their spot and not get shut-out of their top school picks either, so each has to decide their best strategy on when to commit.

Another note - while we have mentioned Dwight Howard as the #1 prospect in high school and the possibility he may come to Tech, we all know he wouldn't stay more than a year. Sounds like he's ready for the NBA. The guy we might be better off with longer term is Howard's teammate,Randolph Morris, who is listed as the number 3 center in the country by the Hive. He also has quick NBA potential but maybe he would stay around for 2 years. Both these guys sound like they have mammoth potential and both are listed with GaTech as one of their top choices.

Zam was one of the two guys that were at the GaTech / Clemson football game this weekend (not exactly a showcase). If Hewitt has in fact grabbed Zam, and Dickey follows and then grabs a couple of the other high profile recruits he is after, this could be the best recruiting class at GaTech hoops in a long time. It seems to be shaping up well. Way to go Mr.Hewitt.

Last note: Tom Hammonds son, Tom Hammonds Jr, is interested in Tech, but it is not clear if he will even be offered a scholarship. With the current players Hewitt is vying for, it is doubtful he will offered one. He is 6'4", 175lb, not ranked in the top players, but looks like he could be a decent player. Maybe a walk-on if he likes Tech enough??? Although I'm sure there is another school that would offer him a scholarship.

Sunday, September 21, 2003

See the posting below by yours truly under the title "Worried about our defense at Clemson". This was posted Tuesday Sept 16. Not to drag the point on any longer, but my worst fears going into that game were realized. I couldn't be more unhappy about being so right.

Another ranked team goes down at the hands of the Tech women's VB team, this time a nail-biter to a tough Wisconsin Badger team. Looks like our ranking will stay put with all those Left Coast schools piling up wins during the week.

I tell you what, I am already starting to accept the loss and I'm ready to move on. Walt is right about looking at the big picture. Let's remember that last year was really Gailey's first true recruiting season and he had a pretty decent class. The year before he came in after the O'Leary incident and had to try and pick up the pieces in the middle of recruiting season. Let's see how we progress through the season and how he does with the next recruiting class before we throw too harsh judgement on him. After all, no matter how good the coach is, you have to have good "horses" playing the game. I can see a kernal of something good with the team and hopefully Chan can continue to build on it. I hope the fans don't get too down on him - we are a pretty easily frustrated bunch. But that's because we care A LOT about Tech sports.

Saturday, September 20, 2003

I agree with Scott about not getting too down...and this game reminds me that we may be in the midst of a season of unpredictable performance. This summer, I thought that at this point the Jackets would be 1-3 with a W over BYU and be thoroughly uninteresting. I was (and still am) thinking that we are a 4-7 team, but I have to admit that this team is anything BUT uninteresting. It'll be interesting to see how they do next week (win by 21, I think) after this loss, but the real test will be against NCSU, who played well today. If T.A. Maclendon is playing well and healthy, we have no chance there--but again, you never know. Do we get the 39-3 loser Jackets or the 17-3 winner Jackets? This reminds me of Joe Hamilton's early seasons and we all know how that turned out (with a talented defense and receiving corp).

By the way, I still think that Clemson stinks. I don't think they'll win 4 games in the ACC this year and I may have to eat crow on that...but I really believe that the whole near-miss at FSU took a lot out of the young Tech team. Not only that, but they played terribly and were/are inconsistent.

Sure, I was the bonehead who (below) shouted out a big blowout in this game...and we got that. I'm still hoping that with Vandy, Duke, and UNC we can pick up wins #2, 3, and 4. Perhaps we pull out Wake and Maryland--then it's anybody's guess for a bowl slot. They can still pull this out, but Clemson was THE test to see if this season was for real. It isn't, regardless of what happens from here on out.

Final Clemson 39, GaTech 3: Well, I'm not going to bother grading the rest of the game. I think it is clear what the grade is. Clemson thoroughly dominated us in every phase of the game. However, I think we have to shake off this loss and not get too down on the program. Let's face it, we have a freshman quarterback with tons of promise, but through 4 games, we have scored 1 passing touchdown. We have many things to work on (in all aspects of the game - we shouldn't just focus on Ball), but we still have plenty of opportunities for good things this year. Keep the faith.

Offense Grade - D: Weak - but not a lot different from the rest of the year. Clemson stuffing our run game. One interception. Not able to punch it into the endzone before the half. Hard to tell on the radio, but just no rhythm. We did start to move the ball a little in the 2nd quarter. Maybe this can translate into something positive in the 2nd half

Defensive Grade - F: Just what I feared the most. Clemson says screw the running game and goes to the air. Our secondary cannot handle it. Clemson picks us apart. One interception but we don't make anything out of it. How the crap can you let Clemson score with 41 seconds left in the 2nd half - crap!!!!!

Special Teams - F: Kenny Scott fumbles the opening kick-off. Then we missed a field goal and made the biggest blunder of the game - the 4th down penalty on a punt giving Clemson new life. They ultimately scored and it started their roll.

Overall - F: Couldn't have imagined a worse half of football. I sure hope we can pull off a miracle in the 2nd half. If not, 1-3 here we come - just like everyone thought we would be.

Friday, September 19, 2003

You can get all of that by visiting the 790 AM station's site as I do on game days. I agree that the Yahoo payment plan is a rip-off, but they can't keep independent stations from putting their broadcasts on TV...and since they get money from ads anyway, they don't feel the need to charge for access. Why pay yahoo for a link?

We are very close on both Frederick and Dickey, could happen by middle of next week. Also, wouldn't be surprised if we get a third commit from one of Smith, Morrow, or Robinson by the end of the month.

One last note about recruiting under Hewitt. Been tracking this since he has come here. We have had 16 players visit for either/both unofficial or official visits after the July camps. Of those 16, 0 have committed to GT during their visit, but 8 of 16 eventually committed to GT and a ninth (Will Bynum) eventually ended up here. - from RamblinRed on Tech message board

Got this off a discussion board (not sure of accuracy). Evidently this "RamblinRed" is somewhat of an insider of Tech recruiting and posts on some of the discussions:

We will be having 2 high profile players in this weekend for the Clemson game.

6'2, 180 NYC CG Russell Robinson - Russell's squad won three big AAU events this summer (Kingwood, Peach Jam, Super Showcase) and RR was MVP all three times. He is considered the best defensive guard in the class. He is also an excellent outside shooter and very good at drawing contact (shot 21 FT in one playoff game and shoots over 80%). Needs to improve his handling skills, but I love this kid and he is a [b]winner[/b]. Top 40 player nationally. GT, UConn(9/13), and KY (10/1 are the likely top 3 along with Kansas (9/27) with UConn looking to be ahead right now. Hopefully RR has a great time in Atlanta this weekend. Also a straight A student.

6'9, 250 SC PF/C Ra'Sean Dickey - Dickey is a big, athletic post player. Sort of in the Elton Brand mode. Excellent hops and strong. Good interior scorer and rebounder. Played inconsistently last spring but was much more consistent this summer. With what Hewitt did with Alvin, would love to see what he could do with Dickey. He plays on the same AAU squad as Zam Frederick (who visited GT 9/6) and they have talked about attending the same school. Top 50 player nationally. He is also considering Auburn and iowa State, but has postponed both those visits into unspecified dates in October, so it looks like we may have a chance to seal the deal first.

Two other notes.
1. Jason Rich will not be visiting this weekend and JR and the GT staff appear to have mutually decided to part ways. Expect Jason to commit to KY (he visits there next week).
2. Zam Frederick has cancelled his visit to Stanford this weekend. He has a trip to KY scheduled next weekend, no word if that has been cancelled as well. Rumors are Zam may be close to committing to GT. if he does that will help with Dickey.

I will be out of town until Tuesday, so others we will to keep the Hive up to date until then. Good news is that historically when I have left town in Sept good things happen. Both Muhammad and Bosh committed while I was out of town. Let's hope we have some more good luck in that regards.

RamblinRed

If things play out as you state and assuming that RM eventually commits, then right now it appears that our 4th 'ship would likely come from one of the following players.

SG/SF 6'6 Anthony Morrow (visits 9/27) - TN, NCSU, Charlotte are his other choices. We are his last visit. Currently he says it is too close to call among those 4.

SF/PF 6'6 Jeremis Smith (visited 9/6 with Zam) - AZ (10/11), OK are the other primary schools. If PF David Nwankwo can convince his parents to let him commit to AZ (he wants to go to AZ, his parents want him to go to Stanford) then AZ likely doesn't have a 'ship for Smith. GT is his current leader, AZ second.

CG 6'2 Russell Robinson (visits 9/20 with Dickey) - UConn(9/13), KU (9/27), KY (10/1 his other primary schools. UConn is his current leader with GT and KY hot on his trail.

PF 6'8 Brian Johnson is also scheduled to visit on 10/11, but i suspect if we land Dickey, then that will not happen. He is currently leaning to L'ville (9/27), and ND (9/20) over Cincy (10/4), GT and AZ (10/1 .

IMO Zam will commit before Dickey. i'd give it pretty good odds right now that it happens next week certainly by the end of the month.

Also, we are still involved and the favorite for Dwight Howard - though he is likely straight to the NBA. if Howard committed and showed up I bet we could find a 'ship for him. Otherwise I think we take 4.

the quote from his coach is:

'Sean Dickey is likely to follow his South Carolina Ravens AAU teammate, Zam Frederick, who is close to committing to Georgia Tech. Dickey is visiting Tech this weekend and has canceled scheduled visits to Auburn and Iowa State in the last couple weeks.

``If Zam commits to Georgia Tech, Ra'Sean will probably do the same," Ravens coach Dion Bethea said. "Ra'Sean's still going to take an official visit next weekend."

So, no, hasnt committed yet, but looks like just a matter of time, and Dickey will follow post-haste

Wow, Bryan - harsh if I do say so myself. Just for clarification, there were 2 terms for the "Bro". The other was the "Man-zier". Again, it's up to the marketing people. I guess I wasn't watching Gailey's pits close enough - and the real question is - why would I? Unfortunately we will not be able to follow-up on this important line of thinking since the Clemson game will NOT be televised anywhere this weekend - not even locally in Atl or the Carolina's. Unbelievable!!! Speaking of that, the media has picked up on this lack of "Media"

Just saw that the Vandy game will be available on Pay-Per-View (only for certain people in Georgia I guess). Great - 2 weeks of radio.

I have added a link to Sting Talk, a Georgia Tech Sports Message Board that seems quite lively. Also, have added a new link on the left to the Insiders.com GaTech discussion board. Not sure how lively it is. Thanks to Bryan for the mention of Coach Gailey's website - I have added it to the permanent link list also.

Also, did you notice that you can no longer listen to Gailey's weekly call-in show - you have to sign up for Yahoo's pay-service for college pass. The internet freebies continue to disappear. Hopefully they won't do the same thing with Hewitt's weekly conference on the Hoops team.

Did you know this? Georgia Tech has not allowed a touchdown on an opening drive in 33 straight games, dating back to a meeting with Clemson in 2000. Found that blurb somewhere.

Clemson players have in fact started to get motivated by Reggie Ball's statement about not losing another game. See bottom of this article that also talks about Clemson's no huddle offense possibly exploiting Tech's defensive lack of depth.

Does anyone remember that Seinfeld in which Kramer was trying to develop a bra for men? I think Chan needs one of those. Or at least an undershirt so the sweat doen't highlight his cleavage. Although his play calling in the FSU game was very impressive - especially when you consider we've had successful fake punts in consecutive games - the sweat around his man-breasts was unsightly.
On another note, Chan has his own site, www.coachgailey.com. His weekly comments are worth reading. I was expecting to see the same coach speak you see every time a coach is interviewed on TV, but Chan writes some interesting stuff specific to each week's game.

This article on CNNSI highlights the struggle of the ACC to gain national prominence with only one team in the top 25. It mentions that "So far, the Yellow Jackets, behind freshman quarterback Reggie Ball and a gang-tackling defense, have been the most pleasant surprise in the ACC." Nice thing to say, and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the ACC. However, lets remember where we were just a few weeks ago. NC State, Virginia, FSU and Maryland all the top 25. Wake made a brief appearance. ACC teams have definitely played poorly against non-conf. opponents, the highlight being the whooping that Clemson took against UGA and Maryland's loss to some local high school in the first week. But NC State almost pulled one out against Ohio State, Tech beat Auburn and Clemson BEAT some local high school in TN last week. The season is still young. The ACC is weaker, but give it time. We all know what VT and Miami will give us, but the conference is not as bad as people might want to believe. Of course if we had the money the SEC had to pay its players, we would probably be better also.

Thursday, September 18, 2003

This AJC article sounds like our personal rants about Tech. "If Tech can beat Clemson on Saturday, it will be 2-2. Let's see a show of hands from the Tech folks: In August, how many of you would have taken a guarantee of 2-2? I thought so." I guess it's not rocket science. But this truly is the test. How many teams can claim a 1-2 record and fans feel good about the program? We have to translate the momentum into W's.

AJC Article on defensive depth - popular topic. I tend to disagree with Walt's idea of giving the back-ups some snaps early in the Clemson game. We have been leading all three of our games at the half. We can talk about weak defense in the 2nd half but we haven't exactly lit it up on offense in the 2nd half either. If we let Clemson get out in front of us going into the second half, that might be too much to ask for.

Injury Report:
"Sophomore strong safety Chris Reis, a former Roswell High School star, remains out after sustaining a concussion at FSU. Reis, who had a CAT scan and other medical exams as a precaution, said he expects to be back next week. It's unclear who will take Reis' place in Tech's nickel package. In other news, sophomore tailback Chris Woods has practiced despite suffering a possible concussion and is probable"

Lastly, interesting editiorial about Chan Gailey. No doubt it is hard to read what he is going to do in a game. This was particularly frustrating last year, where things just fell apart at the end of the year. Of course, he wasn't calling the plays last year, so maybe there is something legit here to be excited about. Personally, I would like to see him continue to give R.Ball the chance to make mistakes. He has obviously gained confidence in him since the BYU game. Rightly so.

All the talk of the Clemson passing offense could throw off notice about that fact that Clemson's leading rusher in 2002, Yusef Kelly, will probably return to the line-up Saturday and see his first action of the season. By the way, he is also expected to be a father on Saturday - see article. We may have to focus on the run after all.

On "Best Damn Sports Show" last night, Tom Arnold did a "what not to say to the Auburn Tigers" skit. As you probably heard, it has come to light that there is an audio tape of Terry Bowden admitting that Auburn players were being paid thousands of dollars when he got there. He was basically asked to shut-up, shake their hands and say "Welcome to Auburn".

The two that stood out in my mind:

What not to say to an Auburn Tiger:

- If you are going to pay players, at least buy some good ones
- I haven't seen Alabama so disappointed since Hee-Haw got cancelled.

We've been talking about the D getting worn out late in the game and someone at the AJC asked Gailey about rotating in younger players on the D. The response was interesting:

"We'd like to," he said, "but how do you do that if they don't have any experience, and if you don't get ahead in games, how do you play these guys? It's a tough little cycle we're in."

Hey, Chan, can you say "Reggie Ball?" I personally think that the Clemson game is the PERFECT game to let the second string line/corners spell the experienced seniors early in the game...maybe take on a series late in the second quarter to extend the halftime rest for the defense. How many times do we have to watch the defense fall apart at the end of the game before we decide to try something new?

Of course, we all know what the real answer to this problem is: ball control. We run the ball effectively and eat up clock and the defense sits around waiting. It'll be interesting to see if Gailey/Tenuta try to rotate people in and out with a small lead if we're lucky enough to have one early.

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Folks, I said it once and I'll say it here too . . . everyone knows what's going on with the gridders and everyone knows who's being recruited for the cagers, but Tech's latest potential #1 team, right behind the Tech 9, is the women's volleyball team. I know, you guys think that it's a meaningless sport that deserves attention right up there with softball and swimming, but this team is the real deal.

Going into the past weekend with our highest ever ranking of #10, we proceeded to go to a tournament at the University of Nebraska and dismantled three other Top 25 teams to realize a new highest-ever ranking up to #5. This included a win over the host Cornhuskers, who previously were the #5 team.

Now, I'm not getting up on a soapbox here or anything, but you guys may want to cut these chicks some slack and see where and how close we actually come to Tech's first-ever national title.

Blurb from an AP Sportswriter.
TOUGH TENUTA:@ How much difference can an assistant coach make?
It wasn't real big news two years ago when defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta left North Carolina for the same job at Georgia Tech. But the Tar Heels' defense is now ranked 117th in the nation, while the Yellow Jackets are 22nd and second in the ACC with 11 sacks. "I don't think you can understate what Jon has done with the defense," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "He gets them mentally and physically ready to play. "He's got a great football mind. He has not had all of the talent in the world on that side as far as depth goes and as far as size goes but he has found ways to use our quickness." Tenuta has been defensive coordinator at five schools, including Ohio State in 2000. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said Wednesday he's been impressed with Tenuta for years. "Jon is a big pressure guy," Friedgen said. "He does a good job of stopping the run and making you a one-dimensional team. And he's very creative and does a lot of interesting things."Here is a profile

I hope Tenuta is all he is cracked up to be. So far so good - especially considering our small size and lack of depth.

One last defensive note of interest. All three of the linebackers listed in the story above (K.Fox, D.Smith, A.Brown) - ALL SENIORS. Gailey did bring in some supposedly talented freshman linebackers and I have heard he is trying to go that route again this year. If these guys keep this up this year, they will be hard to replace.

Found this comment on another blog about FSU showing Tech a thing or two (it was posted BEFORE the game). It was posted by Greg Goelzhauser at www.sportingblog.blogspot.com. FSU got the W but we all how the game actually played out.

"And finally, where are all the people that picked Auburn to win the national championship? Has there been a team that proved to be a bigger bust than Auburn. After being shut out in week one, they managed 3 points against ACC powerhouse Georgia Tech. If you're interested in what a national title contending team should do to Georgia Tech, tune in next week when the Seminoles take on the Bees in Tallahassee."

By the way, he has yet to post a comment since the game was finished. Come on Greg.

Found this blog posting on another website. Obviously a jaded Auburn fan. He could feel worse - he could have gotten crushed by his in-state rival then lost to a WAC team missing most of the starters in an also-ran bowl:

"Oklahoma barely gets by Alabama and Auburn gets killed by Georgia Tech. Before all the preseason hype I thought Auburn had a good team. Not great but good. We'd win the SEC West and go to a good bowl game. The preseason hype lead me to believe we were going win the SEC and go to a BCS bowl. Now I don't know what to think. The first week I was pissed. Getting beat by USC sucked but at least they were good. Georgia Tech sucks. And they bit--slapped us. Auburn didn't look like they had ever played together as a team before. The offensive line didn't block (after bringing back 4 starters). Jason Campbell couldn't get the ball away for a pass because of it. The running backs looked completely out of sink. And the stellar defense showed their weak in the middle of the line and the secondary. There was nothing good you can take away from those two games. Nothing. I like Tuberville as a coach but he has proved this year that he will never be a great coach. His team is playing like a bunch of individuals living off the hype machine, not the team I saw last year in the Iron Bowl.

They are one word: Awful. I can't even look at the cover of ESPN the magazine. Even reading about the hype makes my stomach turn. I am already declaring this season over. Humanitarian Bowl if we are lucky."

Good to see Tech fans are not the only fans who are quick to lose faith and are easily jaded.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

So, is this article a decoy to get his troops motivated? After talking with some local Clemson grads, they all agree 100% that Clemson will come out passing. They will also utilize the no-huddle offense significantly, so we better be ready for that.

In the first 3 games, Clemson's longest run from scrimmage is by C.Whitehurst for 11 yards. Is it so convincing that they will pass that we will completely change the defensive gameplan?

You know things are bad when a traditionally strong football program like GT has to pimp DVDs of a not-so-exciting win over overrated Auburn: check this out

I like the first lines of the page:

"Relive one of the most memorable games in Georgia Tech history! Copies of the Yellow Jackets' dramatic victory over Auburn will be available on DVD and VHS."

I hate to admit it, but I've already forgotten about that game after having my heart removed by FSU again. How about that 1994 game against Maryland! What a CLASSIC! (sarcasm). How about this for a classic: an ugly win over Clemson this weekend...

If this is not calling out Clemson's QB, I don't know what is. Basically - you kick butt against crappy competition and play crappy against good teams. No mincing of words here. I am still worried about our passing defense. Easy to stop the run if they don't run. If you believe the oldtimers, you have to establish the run to win games. We will see.

This article sounds like a scene out of Rudy - the players march into the coach's office one-by-one and we all cry for the little guy. I guess it is nice and all. Ultimately competing at a high level and winning some important games will carry the day and lead to fan happiness. Laying eggs like the last 2 games last year is not the way to do it.

Well Walt, my feelings are a little hurt. You are slamming visitation to a web site that has been up-and-running for a total of 18 hours. Sorry I have not gotten the top listing on Google yet or in Yahoo's most popular web sites. Can't get too popular or Microsoft might try to shut us down. However, I will try to put a web-counter on the site so we can see the actual number of hits. Maybe I'm a little "gung-ho" at the start here with the postings. Obviously I will not be as prolific moving forward, but it is so easy to post that I thought I would give the thing a jump-start. "It's all good".

You would think after fantastic defensive performances at Auburn and FSU, I would be feeling confident going into Sat's game with Clemson. However, I am worried. The strength of Tech's defense has clearly been stopping the run. Clemson's weakness is the run. They tried running versus Georgia with zero success. They tried again at Furman (to a lesser degree) and had a mediocre game. In their last game, they decided to open up and lead with the passing game. The result - Whitehurst 23/28 with 298 yards passing. And believe it or not Whitehurst is 19th in the country in passing efficiency. Clemson is 38th in passing offense.

So with all that said, stuffing the run against Clemson should not be a challenge. But can we stuff the pass????? Gailey's plan has been stuff the run and force the opposing quarterback to win the game. Will that strategy work if Clemson comes out passing on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down? Maybe I'm being a little dramatic because their last 2 games were against Furman and Middle Tenn. St. But just thinking outloud. Is our secondary as good as our frontline? We are currently ranked 16th in the nation in rushing defense and 61st in the nation in passing defense. What will give? (see statistics)

I'm glad to see this site so well attended...that Scott guy sure does post like a maniac. A few things (as though someone cared):

1) Ball isn't cocky, just stupid. I read his quote of "this won't happen again" with some humor, and I agree with Scott that it's good to have some fire in his belly. A good question: as bad as that game hurt to lose, why didn't getting solidly beaten by a potentially fair Mountain West team in the opener make us want to draw a line in the sand? Still, time will tell and if that really is where the buck stops for Reggie, we would perhaps end up beating Maryland, NC State, Georgia, and then a formidable bowl opponent in the ACC's BCS or #2 bowl slot to go 10-2. I can live with that. I think the guy's smoking crack, but I can live with that.

2) Howard was in an article in SI earlier in the year for his summer league exploits and they said the same things...also that his brother (I think) is a manager for Hewitt. I agree with Scott--we aren't Duke and we aren't going to keep great players around for three years unless the NBA does something (like the NFL did) to hold off on drafting kids. This is what drove Cremins to play golf at Hilton Head for a living, and we better get used to it. Like Brian "the prophet" B has said in the past, Syracuse won a championship with Carmelo Anthony the same year that we couldn't get in the NCAA tournament with Bosh. It isn't like everyone else has different constraints than we do. I say aggressively pursue the big stars, keep us on national TV, and try to get another one-year wonder every year. "You'll play every night for us" has to sound a lot better to a great high school senior than the "I'll let you sit on the mighty Duke bench within our system" that Mike Krycewenahsiaaakaiki tells kids.

3) I'm worried about our defense. They HAVE tired in each of the first three games and the media is right to point out the disparity between the first and second halves. Still, compared to where I thought our D would be at the start of the season, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'll take one of the top 5 defenses in the ACC with no depth in a rebuilding year over the alternative of plugging holes on the starting lineup.

3) It's early, but I'll take it to the hole: GT 41-Clemson 24 in a beating. Clemson has no defense, a decent QB against MTSU, no running game against the ACC's best running D, and soon no coach. Something like this sounds right to me: Ball 18-36, 250, 3 TDs, 1 pick; Daniels, 15-110, 2 TDs. Boo-ya!

A potential Tech Hoops recruit for next year - From Hoops World "Dwight Howard 6-10 225 Southwest Atlanta Christian: Howard is being recruited by all of the NCAA powerhouses such as Duke, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Syracuse, Maryland, NC State. He’s viewed as one of the most promising big men in this class, while clearly not a LeBron James, he is quite a bit more than a Kwame Brown. The interesting thing about Howard is his desire to go to school; he has repeatedly said he was committed to his education and development as a basketball player. If scouts continue to rank him as the number 1 high school prospect in the country, it will be hard for him not to be swayed by the NBA millions that could be waiting for him. His biggest assets are his ability to post up and his soft touch from the outside."

Tech is hoping to sign Dwight Howard, the #1 center recruit in the nation. He goes to high school in SW Atlanta Christian and has evidently been a man among boys. Here is a comment from a news article "Toney was accompanied by Southwest Atlanta Christian center Dwight Howard - among others - who was on an unofficial visit (to UGA). At 6-10 and 225 pounds, Howard is considered the top high school center in the country. Howard, who is also considered an NBA prospect, has said he will play college basketball in Georgia, but he gave no indication over the weekend on whether he would commit to Georgia or Georgia Tech, Toney said."

If we get him - GREAT, but another Chris Bosh - lucky to keep him for a year. And big men are hard to acclimate into a team with winning results. Just look at what happened with Bosh - ACC Freshman of the Year, and an NIT Bid.

Is Ball confident or cocky. Here was a quote from him after the FSU game ""We won't lose again. We're coming out with this effort every week, so we're not losing again." (from Macon Telegraph). I think Ball might be a little used to playing at the high school level. On ther other hand, I would rather see a quarterback with this type of confidence. He can help make the team believe.

By the way, did you know that in our last 5 games with FSU we have lost all by a TOTAL of 31 points combined.

Interesting article about our rivalry with Clemson. (see article). Our games have been excellent the past number of years. But I think the rivalry has developed mainly due to geography and a hate for all the tobacco road teams. Everybody hates FSU, but if you cannot beat them in 11 years, then you cannot call that a rivalry.

Can you believe this? I missed this, but evidently Clemson's center has a puking problem, and it actually cost Clemson a fumble when he puked on the ball in the Georgia game (See article). Wow - what a weapon. I sure would hate to be the defensive lineman who will have to square off against him all game long. Wonder if his pregame ritual involves eating corn and mixed veggies and castor oil?

Listening to the local sports radio show coming to work this morning. A caller mentioned how much they were going to get stomped by FSU. The host said he doesn't care about FSU - he cares about Georgia Tech. His opinion was that Reggie Ball was a talented freshman quarterback and is not being allowed to make many mistakes. The offense is fairly simple with Reggie not given the option to check plays at the line. Talked about the strength of the offensive line and if Ball gets protection how dangerous he can be. But that when pressured he will either run or throw out of bounds. What the heck else would you want him to do (force a throw into tight coverage?). His last comment was "I believe it is Joe Hamilton all over again". We can only hope.

Scott, you've really outdone yourself now. We appreciate the chance to let the whole world in on our complaints and comments about the soon-to-be 6-6 mighty YellowJackets. I don't know where the other 5 wins are going to come from, but I'm sure that it'll all be sorted out in time to send us to beautiful San Jose where we can lose to another 5th place WAC team missing half it's team due to academic problems.

Found this in the Greenville News about Tech's running game (article). PJ Daniels did a great job against FSU, but he is no Tony Hollings. I still have some major concerns about our running game. Time will tell.

To get ready for the Clemson game, there is a good Clemson blog by TigerPundit. I have been to all the GT-Clemson games at Clemson the last few years and every year is a nail-biter. See the AJC story. Here is another Clemson site (TigerNet) that may have a few points of interest on the game.

Gailey has been questioned on why he did not go for 2 points on our only touchdown (see the article). He said he does not regret it - I tend to agree. It was too early in the game. I've seen some games where they start looking at those PAT charts (when you should kick vs go for 2) too early in the game. You miss a couple and pretty soon the numbers start working against you. I can see how he would be questioned though - by the same token he defended his choice early in the game using 4 downs to go for a touchdown. He said that there would not be many touchdown opportunities. I agreed with his decision there also (even though the results sucked), but if he believed there would not be many touchdowns then maybe he would have thought harder about going for 2. Well, easy to play armchair quarterback now - but that's what we do. Go Jackets. - Scott

This is the first posting of the new Georgia Tech Sports Blog. Well, Florida State managed to pull one out of the fire AGAIN last Saturday with a 14-13 win. As a GT alum, I for one and sick of Florida State doing this every year. We outplayed them for 53 out of 60 minutes, but a Loss is a Loss. After the Auburn game and this one, Tech fans sure have hope for the rest of the season. Go Jackets!!